Top Stories

If political instability, leadership changes, and tightened tax laws weren’t strenuous enough, plummeting oil prices in the latter half of 2014 left many governments and corporations exasperated, questioning how low prices could conceivably go. Meredith McBride analyses how authorities around the world have responded with sectoral tax changes.

Matthew Gilleard talks with Pascale Colin, group tax manager at EFG Bank, about the role of the tax director, her journey in getting there, and operating successfully in a rapidly-evolving Swiss, European and global tax environment

The first full Budget from Narendra Modi's Indian government was keenly awaited by corporates, partly because of the pro-business sentiment presented by Modi and his finance minister, Arun Jaitley, since taking office. The two did not disappoint, bringing clarity to taxpayers and foreign investors on a number of fronts. ITR's special report takes you through the hopes and fears of taxpayers in the build-up to Jaitley's Budget speech, and analyses the corporate tax measures announced on the day. We also bring you our exclusive interview with Finance Minister Jaitley from December 2014.

The landscape of international taxation is changing. The OECD’s BEPS project is likely to rewrite the rules governing international taxation in a way that has not been seen since the League of Nations shaped existing rules in the 1920s.
A key component of this is taxation of the financial sector. Various sector-specific tax laws have been proposed. This is providing those in the sector with plenty to think about. One such figure is Mariano Giralt, Managing Director, Tax Services, at BNY Mellon. He talks to Matthew Gilleard about some of the key tax developments impacting financial services.

The new EU legislation changing the place of supply of business-to-consumer (B2C) electronic services, telecommunications and broadcasting to the country of the consumer has been the VAT story of the year. Joe Stanley-Smith speaks to Dermot Donegan, head of VAT policy at the Irish tax authority (Revenue), about how the plans were finalised during the Irish presidency of the EU Council, his thoughts around their implementation and the possibility of expanding the mini one-stop shop (MOSS) to cover goods and other services.

The European Commission is promoting its Tax Transparency Package, published yesterday (March 18), as a tool for “healthier” tax competition as well as for helping member states identify abusive tax practices.

Corporate Tax

On March 30, Australia’s treasurer Joe Hockey announced a tax reform discussion paper titled Re:think, in prelude to a white paper expected late this year. Advisers say that reform of corporate and personal income tax hinges on changes to the rate and base of GST – an option that remains politically unpopular.

In an effort to place itself at the centre of venture capital and private equity investment in Asia, the Hong Kong government introduced a Bill in its Legislative Council on March 25 to extend an exemption from the territory’s 16.5% profits tax to include offshore private equity funds, which is already extended to other types of offshore funds.

Indirect Tax

On March 30, Australia’s treasurer Joe Hockey announced a tax reform discussion paper titled Re:think, in prelude to a white paper expected late this year. Advisers say that reform of corporate and personal income tax hinges on changes to the rate and base of GST – an option that remains politically unpopular.

Taxpayers may have plenty to fear if next week’s Tenth Circuit case concerning the so-called Amazon tax goes in favour of Colorado, as it could lead other states to implement similar rules to cash in on the verdict, massively increasing US compliance burdens for online traders, as well as hitting their profits.

Making good on his promise that the government would crack down on so-called black money, India’s finance minister Arun Jaitley has introduced a Bill in the lower house of parliament (Lok Sabha) which would penalise Indian tax evaders with a whopping 90% penalty and possible jail time if convicted of non-disclosure of undeclared assets held outside the country.

The European Commission is promoting its Tax Transparency Package, published yesterday (March 18), as a tool for “healthier” tax competition as well as for helping member states identify abusive tax practices.

Taxpayers may have plenty to fear if next week’s Tenth Circuit case concerning the so-called Amazon tax goes in favour of Colorado, as it could lead other states to implement similar rules to cash in on the verdict, massively increasing US compliance burdens for online traders, as well as hitting their profits.

Achim Pross, head of the International Cooperation and Tax Administration division at the OECD, and architect of the new automatic exchange of information standard and the multilateral competent authority agreement (MCAA), which 52 jurisdictions have signed so far, discusses the progress made in 2014 and looks at opportunities and challenges ahead.